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Tamworth 2010 Country Music Festival
January Friday 15th - Sunday 24th Countdown will run from Friday 8th to Thursday 14th
CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia, - Sat 23rd January 2010 - Information Centre - 02 6767 5300
http://www.visittamworth.com/
Tickets on sale now!!!!!
http://www.tcmf.com.au/

Brooks & Dunn touring Australia May 2009

Pre sale tickets go on sale 13th November 2008. Dierks Bentley special guest. Also Adam Harvey, Sydney and Melbourne, Jasmine Rae Perth and Brisbane.

Olivia Newton-John married businessman John Easterling during a private ceremony on June 21st 2008 in Cuzco, Peru, followed a week later with a second ceremony in Jupiter, Florida.

Telstra Road to Tamworth 2009 is currently being put together and details including Heat dates & locations will be announced in the coming weeks. Make sure you regularly check our site for updates. www.entertainmentedge.com.au

Click here for Photos and Info 2007 Festival

Tamworth Local News

Slim Dusty Way proposal - ready to hit the road

2007 Photos 2007 Tamworth Festival

2007 Photos Tamworth Hats Off Festival

Dolly Parton planning to embark on a world tour next year 2008 which will include shows in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia

Awards for Graham, Sarah, Dean & Rose
2007 Queensland Gold Medallion Awards
RUM Entertainment is happy to congratulate the following winners from the 2007 Queensland Gold Medallion Awards, presented by the World Alliance for Radio Presenters (WARP).
Presented in Toowoomba last week, RUM are proud to see four of our Queensland based artists take home gongs.

In the New Talent arena, Sarah McMonagle took out the Gold Medallion, while Rose Carleo received the Silver award.

Graham Rodger received the honours of Songwriter Of The Year, while he was awarded runner-up to Lee Kernaghan for Touring Artist of the Year. Bush Balladeer of the Year went to Kingaroy’s Dean Perrett.
All four artists are distributed by OneStop Entertainment.

Bricks and Mortar for satisfaction of Visitors
Tamworth, Friday 13th July 2007:

At 11am today, the Chairman of Tourism Tamworth, Warwick Bennet AM, announced an extension plan to the existing Tamworth Visitor Information Centre located at the corner of Peel and Murray Street (subject to Tamworth Regional Council’s approval).

The Tamworth Visitor Information Centre boasts over 90,000 visitors through its doors annually, houses the award winning “Walk a Country Mile” interpretive tribute to Australian country music and doubles as the region’s ticketing centre.

The plans unveiled today showed the extension will not deter from the unique external aesthetics of the building, with the design carefully crafted to simply add what looks to be a drum on the side of the guitar shaped building.

Celebrated local Tamworth architect John Carr was the mastermind behind the original design and has kept a close eye on the centre since its opening. His interest remained so strong that when news of an extension circulated, Mr Carr voluntarily removed himself from retirement to oversee the project in conjunction with Hill Lockhart Architects.

The 280m2 expansion will allow for an additional four offices, a fully functional meeting room, an open plan workspace and storage area as well as a much needed, proper-sized staff room. The additional office space will allow for existing area’s of the building to be transformed to ensure a more streamlined area for operational procedures including a Delivery Service Dock, professional ticketing booths with an established queue area and a revamped look and feel to the public visitor area to ensure the Information Centre reflects the progressive Tamworth brand while still embracing it’s country music heritage.

The ‘Walk a Country Mile” centre will remain unchanged however will seem more in sync and complimentary with the new design.

The Visitor Information Centre development is not a newly conceived project, Mr Bennet has been working with Tamworth Regional Council and requesting the extension for just over four years and is now delighted to see it come to fruition.

“It is an exciting time for Tamworth and the region, the Australian Equine and Livestock Centre will be complete in 12 months and the bookings for the complex are already strong, we have major concerts now selecting Tamworth as a destination on their tour itinerary, the local events and festivals held in the region continue to grow in reputation and visitor numbers, and we believe it is only right that our principle Visitor Information Centre professionally services our visitors and is designed to reflect our growth and vibrancy”, said Mr Bennet, a former Mayor of Tamworth.

The extension and revamp was developed to facilitate several needs of the centre:

1. To ensure a streamlined service delivery to the information seeking visitors who enter but more importantly to ensure increased satisfaction of their experience in the centre.

2. Tourism Tamworth is lucky to have an army of over 70 volunteers who freely donate their time to assisting the organisation provide exceptional service to visitors. The volunteers are invaluable to the Information Centre and their passion and enthusiasm heightens each visitor’s experience. Tourism Tamworth wants to provide a better working environment for the volunteers so we are providing them with the tools and facilities they need to best service our visitors.

3. Allow for a greater area to be dedicated to souvenirs ensuring increased revenue through a projected increase in visitors securing memorabilia to commemorate their time in Australia’s Country Music Capital.

4. The increased responsibilities and obligations of Tourism Tamworth has seen an increase in staff within the organisation and the additional offices and workspace areas have become a necessity more than a luxury.

5. As the major ticketing outlet for the Tamworth Region for shows and concerts held within the region, the centre houses ticketing counters at present, however the new lay-out will present a more secure and professional ticketing area for the benefit of staff and customers.

“We are extremely grateful to Tamworth Regional Council for their dedication to tourism in the Tamworth Region. It is estimated that $300million is injected into the region through tourism, and the local council and the Board of Tourism Tamworth recognise and are pre-empting the estimated tourism growth to Tamworth and the necessity to expand our infrastructure”, added Mr Bennet.

Once approval of the Development Application is received, tenders will be called for the addition to the building and it is hoped that work will commence as soon as possible.
For more information about the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre, contact Tourism Tamworth on 02 6767 5300 or log-on to www.visittamworth.com .

-Tamworth blitzes the Awards scene
Tamworth, Monday 30 July 2007: Tamworth and its annual Country Music Festival

has come up trumps once again with the announcement late yesterday evening

that the Tamworth Country Music Festival won the 'Festivals and Events'
category at the 2007 Inland NSW Tourism Awards.

Prepared and submitted by Tourism Tamworth in mid-May this year along with
two other entries (Tamworth Visitor Information Centre and Manilla Information

Centre), the winning application now receives automatic entry into the
state-based, NSW Tourism Awards with finalists announced after Monday 8 October

and winners made known at a Gala Awards Ceremony & Dinner on Thursday
15 November 2007.

"This is fantastic recognition for Tamworth's internationally recognised event

and with the winners of the state awards announced in November, should
the Country Music Festival take out first place in its category, it will make

for a great prelude for both the metropolitan launch [early December] and

the Festival itself in January," said Ms Rebel Thomson, General Manager,
Tourism Tamworth.

The Tamworth Country Music Festival was not the only winner on the night.

Tourism Tamworth's principle Visitor Information Centre (based in Tamworth)
won the 'Visitor & Information Services' category while the Austin Tourist
Park took out the 'Tourist & Caravan Parks' category and West Diggers was awarded

first place in the 'Registered Clubs' category. In addition, there were

a number of other finalists spread across an array of categories from the

Tamworth region including Oakhampton Homestead & Farmstay and the Nundle
Woollen Mill, both of which unfortunately missed out on picking up an award this year.

"Tourism Tamworth's focus on strengthening Visitor Information Centre Services

across the region has been rewarded with the recognition of the Tamworth

Information Centre winning this award - this could not have been achieved
without the dedication of all Tourism Tamworth staff and our fantastic volunteers,"

added Ms Thomson.

"Tourism Tamworth would like to take this opportunity to commend all of the
winners, finalists and other operators that put forward submissions for the

2007 Inland NSW Tourism Awards."

For further information about the 2007 Inland NSW Tourism Awards, details a
bout the 2008 Tamworth Country Music Festival presented by Telstra or other
general information about the Tamworth region, please contact Tourism Tamworth

on 02 6767 5300 or log onto the website www.visittamworth.com .

On Sale Now

Mary Duff in Concert 15 Aug

/Men in Tutus 31 Aug

Across the Great Divide Tour: Silverchair & Powderfinger 4 Sept

Sydney Symphony's 75th Birthday Fundraising Concert 8 Sept //

Cystic Fibrosis "The Great Escape Car Rally" 3 - 13 September 2007
Tamworth Country Music Festival presented by Telstra 18 - 27 January 2008

Tamworth serves up a feast
Tamworth, Tuesday 26 June 2007: Last night, Tamworth cleaned up at the ‘2007 Restaurant & Catering Awards NSW/ACT – Northern Division’. Securing five awards for different eateries spread across the city, Tamworth is now cemented as a culinary destination.

Some of Tamworth’s most well-respected restaurants added new awards to their respective, ever-growing collection at the presentation ceremony held in Kingscliffe. The Quality Hotel Powerhouse picked up the ‘Best Restaurant in a Hotel’ award for its fine-dining restaurant Monty’s, which is headed up by three-star Michelin chef Ben Davies. The restaurant, which was reopened in August of last year, has garnered much recognition and winning this award has confirmed the restaurant’s status as one of the best in NSW. Topping of the night for the Quality Hotel Powerhouse was 3rd Year Apprentice Neil Fischer who received the coveted ‘Restaurant Apprentice of the Year’ award.

Invited to take to the stage to address the guests, Graham Manvell (creator of sSs BBQ Barns) had to return to the stage with wife Marlene when their local Tamworth store took out the award for ‘Best Themed Restaurant’. The Tamworth entrepreneurs boasted two nominations for their sSs BBQ Barn stores; Tamworth and Coffs Harbour. Their win reaffirmed the industry and consumer recognition of the Tamworth grown franchise and reinforced plans to continue its expansion later in the year across Australia and New Zealand. Mr Manvell said, “a great night was had by all”.

The Marigold Inn Restaurant received the award for ‘Best Chinese Restaurant in the New England area’ on the back of their 2006 win in the same category; while Prontos Table picked up the award for ‘Best New Restaurant in the New England region’ proving their decision to expand the catering business into a restaurant has been a success.

Whilst they may not have walked away with a prize, a number of key local operators also received nods with nominations as finalists in the 2007 Restaurant & Catering Awards NSW/ACT – Northern Division including Dragon Palace Restaurant, Vespa’s Italian Restaurant, Ashby House Motor Inn (Ashby on Ebsworth) and the All Settlers Motor Inn (Gregory’s on Goonoo Goonoo).

“Tourism Tamworth would like to congratulate all of the nominated restaurants for taking part in these awards - this is a fantastic coup for Tamworth with some of our restaurants winning these prestigious awards,” said Ms Rebel Thomson, General Manager, Tourism Tamworth.

“Tamworth’s success at this year’s awards has reinforced its reputation as a regional city providing a high level of service and quality. We have a unique sophisticated yet rural atmosphere which is further enhanced by many of our local restaurant operators offering an array of local produce and wines much to the delight of patrons,” added Ms Thomson.

Tourism Tamworth encourages residents and visitors alike to get out and about in the city and taste the delights of the region on offer at any of the 50+ eateries across town. For further information about the recent 2007 Restaurant & Catering Awards NSW/ACT – Northern Division or general details about the Tamworth area, contact Tourism Tamworth on 02 6767 5300 or log-onto the website www.visittamworth.com .

Channel Seven’s smash entertainment program Australia’s Got Talent is back and searching for the hottest undiscovered talent in the country!
We’re looking for individuals and groups, circus acts, animal acts, novelty acts, ventriloquists, magicians, comedians, all kinds of dancers from ballet to belly, all styles of singers from yodelers to opera ... all ages ... weird, wacky and wonderful!

And there’s a quarter of million dollars prize money up for grabs.
************

NSW Government helping Regional NSW Celebrate
Tamworth, June 18th 2006: Due to financial restrictions events, festivals, fairs and celebrations often have to sacrifice on different elements and what they would like to do. From large scale to small community, putting together and running an event is a costly exercise. The NSW government is offering assistance and lending a helping hand through the 2008 Regional Flagship Events Program which is now open for entries.

Tourism NSW is encouraging events organisers in regional NSW to submit expressions of interest for the 2008 Regional Flagship Events Program. NSW Minister for Tourism, Matt Brown announced that under this program annual one-off grants of $10,000 and funding of $60,000 over three years were available to assist organisers with marketing and promoting their event to a wider audience. Regional events starting between 1 January and 31 December 2008 are eligible for the grants. Events funded under this program in previous years have included the NSW Tourism Award-winning Hunter Valley Steamfest, and the highly successful Parkes Elvis Festival.

“Tourism Tamworth’s involvement in such large scale events as the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, presented by Telstra and the mid-year Hats Off to Country Festival has given us a greater appreciation of the costs involved in delivering successful events to the Tamworth Region community. The 2007 Hats Off to Country festival is a direct beneficiary of the NSW Government Regional Flagship Events Program”, said Ms Rebel Thomson, Tourism Tamworth General Manager.

“We have community organised events almost every weekend in the Tamworth Region. From the Nundle Go for Gold Festival through to the Barraba Festival and all in between, we are a busy region and we recommend all local event organisers submit an application for the NSW Government program”, Ms Thomson added.

Similar in style to the NSW Government Regional Flagship Events Program is Tourism Tamworth’s own Event Support Program which has just opened its ROUND 2 submission call for 2007. The Tourism Tamworth Event Support Program is designed to assist Tamworth Region Events with in-kind Marketing support. The program is open to any re-occurring event in the Tamworth Region that wants to build the event to not only be financially sustainable but also improve the awareness of the event.

Round two of the 2007 Tourism Tamworth Event Support Program has just opened and will close at the end of July. Any local event organisers that would like any additional information should contact Tourism Tamworth’s Marketing Manager, David Woodward by email d.woodward@tamworth.nsw.gov.au requesting an information pack and application form.

Information on the NSW Government 2008 Regional Flagship Events Program is available at www.tourism.nsw.gov.au/ corporate or from the Regional Flagship Event Coordinator on (02) 9931 1506.

For any additional information about events in the Tamworth Region or the Tourism Tamworth Event Support Program, please contact Tourism Tamworth on 02 6767 5300 or log onto www.visittamworth.com

Tamworth on the Monopoly board!
Tamworth, Tuesday 5th June 2007:

January 2007 was more than just fighting for a parking space during the annual Festival in Tamworth, the city and visitors were also in the fight for a place on the prestigious Australian specific Monopoly board… and we won!

Today, Parker Bros (the manufacturer and owner of Monopoly) announced the winning towns and regions that secured a place on the June 10th release Australian “Here and Now” Monopoly board with Tamworth taking out one of the three positions allocated to NSW.

With 400,000 votes cast for NSW cities, Tamworth held a resounding 18.1 percent of the vote equalling just over 72,000 unique votes cast by individuals wanting to see Australia’s Country Music Capital represented on the board game. Enjoyed by thousands across the world for decades, the new version of Australian Monopoly is set to introduce Tamworth into households and become part of the memories for generations to come.

Beating Australia’s largest city [Sydney] for the remaining two coveted NSW destinations on the board are Broken Hill and The Snowy Mountains. Other prominent locations that are celebrating the success of securing a place on the new Australian Monopoly board include The Sunshine Coast, Hobart, Melbourne, Barossa, Perth, Kakadu and Lake Burley Griffin just to name a few. The full results can be found at www.monopoly.com.au .

The Monopoly website states: “The new edition will resemble present-day Australia as the properties now include landmarks from 22 great regions from around our country and the property spaces have been re-appraised to include modern-day property values.”

“In addition to the updated tokens and properties, the game's money will be in higher denominations and the Chance and Community Chest cards will include scenarios relevant to today”.

“What a fantastic achievement for Tamworth to be counted among the many famous places that have been listed on the board across the world,” said Mr David Woodward, Marketing Manager, Tourism Tamworth. “Securing the place on the board is thanks to the great efforts of the local community who really got behind the campaign to take out a place; it’s a great win for the city and its residents”.

“With more than 250million monopoly sets sold across the world, it remains one of the most popular, most widely played, and best-selling board games ever. With Tamworth now included on the Australian specific Monopoly board, the city’s reputation as the Country Music Capital of Australia as well as being a major regional centre in NSW will be exposed to a huge new audience”, added Mr Woodward.

For more information about the Australian Monopoly Promotion or any other events and activities in the Tamworth region, contact Tourism Tamworth on 02 6767 5300 or log-on to the website www.visittamworth.com .

"Lost Dogs"

Every Thursday Night Avoca Beach Hotel 8 pm $12 Cover charge Bookings: 02 4382 3899

Lost Dogs is Bill Chambers, Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, Mick Albeck (fiddle) and Chris Haigh (bass)
playing songs from all their favorite songwriters including Fred Eaglesmith, Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller and John Prine. "The Lost Dog Sessions" Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, Bill Chambers, Chris Haigh, Mick Albeck Plus a different special guest every week

Chris Callaghan from the Outback Idol Band (previously from The Goodies Show) has a new partner Pauline Hanson. He has all ready dedicated a song for her and she is thrilled. We wish Chris and Pauline all the best

Click here for photos of Chris and his band

From WA Groove Magazine
Chris Gibbs, the marketing officer at Joondalup Music Centre regarding performance opportunities for West Australian artists which he asked us to pass on. Chris writes…

“I am currently seeking interest from artists who would like to perform on Saturday afternoons at the new Joondalup Music Centre as part of an initiative to raise awareness of WA talent.

Performances are from 2pm-3pm on Saturdays, production supplied, artists must provide their own instruments. These opportunities are suited mostly to solo artists or duos, but I will consider other formats.
This is a paid performance opportunity.”
So if you’re interested please contact Chris directly via his email address, which is chris@joondalupmusic.com.au
And if your in the market for a brand new Martin Acoustic Guitar remember you can win one courtesy of Groove The West Australian Music Magazine and Kosmic by simply going to the Groove Website at www.groovemagazine.com.au clicking on the competition link and filling out the online entry form or you can fill out the entry form in the latest issue of Groove detach it and post to Kosmic Sound, 94 Hector St. Osborne Park 6017.
Paul McCarthy
Groove The West Australian Music Magazine
http://www.groovemagazine.com.au

2006 Mildura Country Music Awards

FELICITY URQUHART

Big winner at the Telstra Country Wide Southern Stars the 10th Australian Independent Country Music Awards.
APRA/AMCOS Independent Country Music

Single of the Year,

Female Vocalist with The Flood

Album of the Year with My Life.

Felicity who won the Independent Female Vocalist award in 2004.
TRAVIS SINCLAIR -

Male Vocalist -A Heavenly Body,

CAMILLE TE NAHU & STUIE FRENCH -

Independent Group/Duo of the Year with their chart-topper Wives Don’t Like Old Girlfriends.
DEAN PERRETT -Heritage Track of the Year for Would Clancy Be Welcome?

LEE FORSTER Rising Star award winner in Male section - The Way He Rolls His Swag

VICTORIA BAILLIE Rising Star award winner Female section - Lord Don’t Take Me Yet.

PAUL COSTA

Independent Artist of the Year – an award determined by a separate panel and judged on the artist’s full range of activities during the year including recording, performing, promotion and profile.

Since releasing his Walkin’ In These Shoes album in 2005, Paul has achieved major success including Top 10 chart singles, a Golden Guitar nomination and several other awards. His brand new album Restoration, again produced by ROD McCORMACK and released in August, is already attracting major attention.
OLIVE BICE

received the Barry Thornton Service Award for her tireless efforts. Olive has been at the last 18 Mildura Country Music Festivals and hosts the daily showcase at the Mildura City Mall.

The awards are held annually at the Mildura Country Music Festival.
For further information, contact the Awards Co-ordinator John Arnold on 0418 303206.

Aussie women win at MerleFest USA

28th April 2006 was a great day for Australian country music.
Audrey Auld Mezera won the MerleFest. "country music" category in the songwriting contest,
Megan Laurie came in second.

Click here Photos and more info - Audrey Auld Mazera and Megan Laurie capture top spots in MerleFest Songwriting Contest

******

VITAL ENTERTAINMENT SOLUTIONS –
A NEW FORCE

This month sees the launch of a new and “Vital” force in the Australian Music Industry.
After taking into account the ongoing staff rationalization and uncertainty of future mergers of the major record companies, Vital Entertainment Solutions has been formed by four long-standing industry executives with a wealth of experience in the music business and who have also been successful in their own individual fields.
Directors of Vital are – Meryl Gross, Peter Hebbes, Gill Robert and Jim White.
Vital plans to work with a select number of local artists in a business management capacity and facilitate the release of international and local product by artists who are keen to develop the Australian market working with a focused strategic team.

Vital is a complete entertainment services company specializing in music business management, CD/DVD/Video production and placement, distribution, digital rights management, tour and product promotion, marketing, career development, music publishing and event organization -representing artists’ careers in whatever way they require.

Vital’s initial clients include Australians Steve Forde and the Flange who are about to release a new album recorded in Nashville, Canadian Corb Lund, who successfully toured Australia earlier this year delighting audiences with his unconventional style of roots-country, former South Australian of the Year for Arts and Music, singer-songwriter John Wibberley, and Jake Nickolai, a brilliant young guitarist signed to ABC Music.

Vital Entertainment Solutions has also announced a distribution deal with Hot/Didgeridoo, one of Australia’s long established and leading independent record distributors.

“We are delighted to be distributed by a company that has a similar outlook to Vital and which is run by an energetic, efficient and dedicated staff” said Vital spokesman, Jim White. “Our aim is to run a small and focused operation and maximize our opportunities working with local and international partners. We are particularly excited to launch the company with the broad mix of exceptional talent that Steve, Corb, John and Jake bring to Vital”.

NASHVILLE NOD TO SYDNEY SCRIBE

Local writer and photojournalist BOB HOWE has won "The Charlie Lamb Award
for Excellence in Country Music Journalism". This international honour is
awarded annually to two journalists. Bob has been recognised in the category
that recognises a career, lifetime, or body of country music journalism
work. Visit www.bobhowe.com/writer/ for a more detailed look at Bob's career
that spans "Four Decades of Country Music Journalism".

The story begins in the mid-seventies when a teenage Bob could be found
introducing the delights of Slim Dusty and Merle Haggard to readers of RAM
(Rock Australia Magazine). It continues through the eighties and nineties as
Bob reports from around the globe for many magazines, while travelling as a
professional musician. Coming up to the present time it finds COWBOYS IN
CYBERSPACE as the cornerstone of Bob Howe's Country Music journalism. Now in
its seventh year, COWBOYS IN CYBERSPACE is read nationally in Capital News
magazine and on the Web (www.shownet.com.au) by fans not only in Australia,
New Zealand, the USA, the UK and all of Europe, but also Mexico, Russia,
Japan, India and Iran!

The fourth annual Charlie Lamb Awards will be presented during the
International Country Music Conference at Belmont University in Nashville on
Friday, 28 May 2004 (Memorial Day weekend). On the following day, Bob will
be the featured luncheon speaker at the conference and will present a
multimedia discussion of the current state of Australian country music.

Bob will be in Nashville from May 24 to 31 and then attending
The First World Guitar Congress from June 2 at Towson University -
Baltimore, Maryland
7 days of seminars, master classes and concerts featuring all styles of
music, and including country music legends such as dobro king Jerry Douglas,
flat-picking master Tony Rice, and the one-and-only Albert Lee.

Bob arrives back in Sydney on June 10th.
=============================
For more information, contact:
Bob Howe (02) 9365-3357 or 0412 414-750
bob@shownet.com.au http://www.shownet.com.au

Nick Erby is back on Radio with the Super Network on Saturday and Sunday nights from 6pm. The super network from 2SM goes to Tamworth, Armidale, Parkes, HunterValley, Gold Coast and more

Sydney 2SM 1269am Newcastle 2HD 1143am

Tamworth 2TM 1287AM Toowoomba 4WK 1359AM

Darling Downs 4WK 963AM Gympie 4GY 558AM

Tweed Coast Radio 97 972AM Gold Coast Radio 97 104.1FM

Lismore 2LM 900AM Grafton 2GF 1206AM

Taree 2RE 1557AM Mudgee 2MG 1449AM

Parkes 2PK 1404AM Dubbo 2DU 1251AM

Cobar 2DU 972AM Gunnedah 2MO 1080AM

Moree 2VM 1530AM Walgett 2VM 106.7FM

Goondiwindi 2VM 89.5FM Inverell 2NZ 1188AM

Armidale 2AD 1143AM

Tex Morton¹s first recordings preserved

Seventy one years after they were cut, the fabled first records ever made by the father of Australian country music Tex Morton have surfaced again and have been placed in the care of the national screen and sound archive in Canberra.

It is believed the three priceless, 7², aluminium discs, said to be the first country music discs made outside America, were originally recorded by Tex in Wellington, NZ, in 1932 when the young singer was not yet 16 years old.

For decades they were stored in New Zealand until Tex brought them back with him after a trip in the late Œ70s. Following his death in 1983, Tex¹s wife Kath Morton placed the three Speak-A-Phone discs in storage for safe keeping.

For collectors and serious Tex Morton historians, the discs acquired an almost legendary status. Because no one had seen them for so long, some experts even disputed their existence.

Recognising their enormous importance to Australasian musical history, Kath Morton decided the discs should be placed in the care of ScreenSound Australia, the national screen and sound archive in the nation¹s capital.

With the assistance of friend and country music industry veteran Max Ellis, an approach was made to ScreenSound through former country music broadcaster Nick Weare, now of the archive¹s Collection Development Department.

Kath Morton formally handed over the three discs to the Acting Director of ScreenSound Australia Mary Durkin in Canberra recently.

ScreenSound, which has specialised audio facilities and extensive expertise in handling old recordings of all types, is at present transcribing the records on to CD. The Speak-A-Phone discs, a proprietary recording system of the era, used fibre needles and appear to be in excellent condition.

From titles scratched on the discs, it is believed they contain four songs, The Insult, The End of The Hobo¹s Trail, Mexican Yodel and Last Round Up. However, until the content is transcribed by ScreenSound¹s audio experts, Tex Morton fans will have to wait to know whether these priceless original song recordings are of sufficient audio and vocal quality to be of broadcast standard.

After transcription of the content is completed, at least one of these highly significant Australian country music relics will be placed on display in Tamworth, Australia¹s Country Music Capital.
For more information: Max Ellis, tel. 0438 667 314.
PLEASE NOTE: a picture of ScreenSound¹s Acting Director Mary Durkin, Kath Morton and Max Ellis holding the three historic disks, is available from mxls@optusnet.com.au at no charge.

COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA
PO Box 298 Tamworth NSW 2340
Email <info@countrymusic.asn.au >
AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY ON-LINE
http://www.country.com.au

RUM ENTERTAINMENT QUENCHES THIRST…..
Rebecca McCarthy (nee Urquhart) has established her own agency – RUM Entertainment. The former Warner Music Australia employee says the business will be specialising in country music, encompassing all facets of artist services, bookings, promotion & music consultancy.

Rebecca’s experience within the many different aspects of the music industry & media, will help her have an impact with venues and local media, providing artists for public, private & corporate functions.

“I started my career in the entertainment business for the love & passion of it nearly 15 years ago.

I’ve been wanting to start my own business to quench not only my thirst for country music, but to expose and give the public a taste of what country music has to offer,” Rebecca states.

She currently represents identities such as: Cliff Guy (TV Presenter), Michael Bryers, The Baileys, Clint Crighton, Gemma Doyle, The Byrnes Sisters, Sam Smyth (Poet) & the Andre Dimitri Band (contemporary).

“Being able to work with people I believe in, representing & promoting Australian artists, makes me want to help contribute to their success.”

Rebecca is contactable on PH (02) 4285 1461 (M) 0439 730 460 or email rumentertainment@bigpond.com